-Aaron Sigal
In an age of parity, the Houston Rockets are defying all the odds. Under a salary cap system that attempts to level the playing field for all teams, the Rockets have rattled off 22 straight wins and are 31-3 in the past 34 games. They have shot to the top of the standings in the ridiculously strong Western Conference, and on Sunday scored a huge win over, arguably, the best team in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers. The streak is the second longest in NBA history-the record was set 36 years ago by the Lakers, long before the salary cap attempted to snuff out this type of domination.
If Tiger Woods was winning tournaments with a broken pinkie, then we would have a real debate over which streak is more impressive. Ten of the Rockets' wins have come without All-Star centre Yao Ming, who suffered a season-ending foot injury in February. Houston is winning with the reanimated corpse of Dikembe Mutombo playing big minutes and luminaries like Rafer Alston at point guard. They effortlessly switched styles in the middle of the streak when Ming suffered an injury, akin to if Woods had retooled his swing in the midst of his run.
Sure, some of the wins have come over weak teams, but they've also beaten the Lakers, Mavericks, Cavaliers (surviving another virtuoso performance from LeBron James) and Hornets. 14 of their last 18 wins have come by double-digits, which is evidence that the Rockets haven't just been winning, they've been blowing teams out of the water-all this under a cap that attempts to prevent this type of utter annihilation. If we could put a cap on Tiger's talent (or which clubs he could use) and put caddy Steve Williams out of commission with a stress fracture in his foot, then maybe we would have grounds for a real argument. But until then, Houston's streak is clearly the real deal.
-Matt Chesser
2008 Woodie Awards
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